From Smug, to Smile
by ashleyli
Summary: Embarking on her journey, Paige competes in both contests and battles in hopes to become a Pokemon Master. The job isn't so easy with many rivals around her, good and bad. Including Drew. But perhaps she could change his smirk to a smile. DREW/OC
1. Too Many Rivals to Count by Daybreak!

**Chapter One: Too Many Rivals to Count by Daybreak!**

"So, Rapidash, we've finally arrived," a young eleven year-old girl stated, sliding off her Pokémon's back. The Rapidash let out a cheerful neigh in response, but the girl knew that it still longed to keep going. "Soon," she said, walking across the field to the building, with Rapidash following her. They entered through automatic sliding doors, to a building filled with trainers, and their Pokémon. It was only natural that the huge structure would be packed, this would be the third contest before the Grand Festival, and many still did not have all five ribbons to compete, she was one of them. The girl walked toward the counter in the centre of the room, waiting in line. Other trainers had many varieties of Pokémon, of all types. Her competition would be tough; she knew how badly everyone wanted this, including herself.

"Oh, isn't that the cutest Rapidash _alive_!" The person behind her in line to enter the contest exclaimed. When she turned around, the girl could see that it was a tall boy, with long and wavy purple hair in entirely green-coloured clothes except for a navy top that revealed his belly button. He wore a green triangular hat that tied in with the outfit, and the girl couldn't help making a reference to a Cacnea or Cacturne. _Well then, _the girl thought, _that is certainly an outfit I would avoid..._

"Is this cute Pokémon yours?" He asked her in awe. She was completely overwhelmed, although didn't show this. The boy had leaned down with his butt out, hands clapped together at the side of his face, which were inches from her own.

The girl backed up, nearing toward her Rapidash, signalling to her that this was not one to take lightly. "You're correct. Thank you for the compliment. Will you be entering the contest?" She asked.

"You know it, Hun!" He said, a big smiled on his face. "Your Rapidash is very impressive; the flames burn just the brightest! But you better watch out for my Pokémon."

The girl moved forward in line by an inch, "Of course," she said, "my name is Paige," she said, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Paige. I'm Harley." he said, shaking her hand before taking out a pokéball and releasing the Pokémon it contained, "and this is my partner, Cacturne."

_A Cacturne? Oh, well, that sure brings back a load of unpleasant memories,_ Paige thought. "A Cacturne, huh? It's sure…unique. It'll probably do great,"

A stricken look crossed Harley's face for only a moment, and Paige wondered what he could be thinking. _Is it because I said 'probably'?_ She wondered.

"Excuse me, would you like to enter the contest?" The man behind the counter asked.

Paige stepped forward in line with a nod, and produced her contest pass that was available in the Sinnoh region. The man then slid it into the computer and finished entering her into the contest. She then walked out of the door, putting her contest pass back in her bag and moved toward the field where everyone was getting some last minute prepping. She was glad for an excuse to get away from Harley.

Too bad her eagerness led to carelessness.

_Smack!_ There was a deafening sound as she collided with the person in front of her. Rapidash caught her, lowering its head to catch her back. Paige thanked it, before looking up and extending her hand. The person who she knocked into was a boy, with green hair and eyes. He took her hand and pulled himself up while muttering an apology, trying to brush off the dirt from his teal pants.

She grinned sheepishly, "don't worry about it, it's my fault; too careless."

He waved it off, flicking his hair before eyeing her Pokémon. "Are you entering the Daybreak Town contest?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The snarky answer slipped from her mouth, but she didn't take it back. "What about you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He said, with the same tone. "I already have all five ribbons, if you must know."

_Isn't he a nice?_ She thought sarcastically. "What's your name?"

"Drew."

"Well then, Drew, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go train so I can get my fifth!" She walked a few paces before turning around as the wind blew her long and messy ponytail toward Drew, "Hey, Drew!" He stopped walking and turned around, not even confused, almost as if he was waiting for her to finish. "Paige" with that, she simply turned with a smile and a wave, walking away with Rapidash in tow. He might be wondering right now what 'Paige' was, but she wasn't worried. He would figure out that that was her name.

Paige walked down to a spot in the field where no trainer had claimed yet and let out her Pokémon. They stretched, and trained, but soon the contest would be beginning. Carefully, she took out her last supply of Milltank Milk and fed everyone their equal share, getting a happy response from her Pokémon before returning them to their pokéballs.

She glanced at the time on one of her twenty-five applications installed into her light blue pokétch and decided that there was about fifteen minutes of training that could be done, and this was fifteen minutes that she couldn't waste.

"Come on out!" Paige said, throwing two pokéballs in the air. Emerging from the red lights were Rapidash and Maganium. She turned her head toward Rapidash, "I want you to watch closely, Rapidash. I know we have tried this before, but I know it's possible. We have to keep trying."

It neighed, with a nod of its head. "Okay then," she said, "Maganium! Solar Beam!"

**... **

"Huh?" Drew turned toward the forest, about to go into the contest hall. A beam of light erected from the forest, it could only be a Solar Beam, and a powerful one as well.

He hurried to it, peeking through the trees to see a trainer, the one he had met before—Paige—with her Rapidash, and her Maganium, who was the one to produce the attack. In the ground, was a very deep hole, which was probably the result.

"Now your turn, Rapidash." Drew heard her say encouragingly. This made him crane his neck to see if he actually heard her properly. _Rapidash? Impossible! _He thought, _everyone knows Rapidash can't use Solar Beam, it's a fire-type Pokémon, and Solar Beam is a grass-type attack!_

Yet still he didn't interrupt, only watch as Rapidash nickered and tried countless times, producing nothing until finally…a small ray of light emerged from its mouth, doing damage, but only little to the ground. _Could it be…? _Drew thought.

…**.**

Paige jumped up and wrapped her arms around Rapidash's neck in praise, "you did it, Rapidash! It won't be long now, I really think so!"  
>Maganium cheered as Rapidash produced a small beam of light again, but at least they were getting somewhere. Paige's eyes softened, "I know you will be able to master this soon, Rapidash, and then we will be able to blow everyone away!" she saw the look in her Pokémon's eyes, which were a mixture of hope and also discouragement that this might not work. "I know how you feel, but I have a hunch that it will happen. What you just did is proof of that; even though it's taken us such a long time, I know it will be okay.<p>

"Think about it, you're a fire-type pokemon, and the sun is a big ball of gas. Technically fire. So why shouldn't it happen?" She finished.

Paige thanked Maganium for all her hard work before returning it to its pokéball while Rapidash tried again, this time the light was not stronger, but weaker, and it only dimmed its hope more. "Hey," she said, lifting Rapidash's chin up with her left hand, "we've got time, this is nothing to rush."

Her left hand with the pokétch still had the analog clock app on the screen, and it showed that she was late for the contest, even though it hadn't started yet; the competitors were expected to come earlier to prepare and pamper themselves and their Pokémon. She quickly returned Rapidash to its pokéball and ran for the building with her bag in tow.

Competitors were supposed to come to the contest hall half an hour before the contest began to get dressed and ready, Paige was fifteen minutes late. For some reason, it was custom in Sinnoh to wear something formal to a contest, but Paige didn't see the point, and preferred it when she could stay in her regular clothes, like all the other regions. It's why she only had one dress.

Once Paige got into a dressing room, she quickly changed into her dress and looked into one of the mirrors. Her dress was a simple purple halter gown that matched her eyes. The attire wasn't puffy, but flowed out behind her and had sparkles near the bottom. The dress ran to her toes, which were unseen.

She looked at herself still and ran over her messy blonde hair with a comb. There were too many tangles, especially with hair down to her ribs. Eventually she got it into a pony tail and made sure her crescent moon necklace was fastened around her neck.

"Competitors!" A woman said, coming into the room. "The Contest starts in five minutes!"

Paige nodded and went to the backstage waiting room, looking at the TV as Marian, the contest announcer in the Sinnoh League who looked related to Lillian and Vivian Meridian started off the contest.

"Ladies and gentleman!" Marian said into the microphone she was holding, "The Daybreak Town Pokémon contest is just about to start!"

"Groups of fans have lined up and drove stretching down the street as far as the eye can see! In numbers too massive to even try to count, and they're all here to witness today's exciting Daybreak Town Pokémon contest!"

She continued; smiling at the camera, "and needless to say, we're coming to you from beautiful Daybreak Town, and we're _live!_"

The crowd cheered in excitement to her words, the light shining on her. "Forty competitors hoping to win this prestigious ribbon here in Daybreak Town will first try their luck for the appeal round, but only eight will make it to the second. Remember, this is a double Pokémon contest! Which means competitors will be using two Pokémon for each round!

"Please welcome our contest judges, the Pokémon contest director, Mr. Contesta. The president of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo. And our very own Nurse Joy from here at Daybreak Town!

She continued after all the judges said their part, "So, without further delay, please cheer for entry number one! Okay, Brandon, you're up!"

One by one, people excited and came back from the room with their scores, and their performances done. With this contest being so close to the Grand Festival, it was going to be hard to pull a win.

"And now! Entry number twenty-nine, please put your hands together for Paige!" Marian said.

Paige ran up to the stage, a big smile on her face, "Come on out, my friends!" She said, throwing the pokéballs high in the air and with a flash of light and sparkles, Togekiss and Mismagius emerged with a spin of their bodies.

"Togekiss, use Aura Sphere!" she said, "Now Mismagius, Power Gem while Togekiss uses Extreme Speed into Air Slash!"

Togekiss produced a big and powerful Aura Sphere to the ceiling as Mismagius used Power Gem. They had trained very hard so that it looked like diamonds everywhere with sparkles, instead of a ball being thrown.

The diamonds spun in a circle around the Aura Sphere across the entire stage, but just before the attacks hit the ceiling, Togekiss climbed in the air with a blinding speed, you couldn't see it! It caught up with the Aura Sphere and used Air Slash, cutting through the attack and resulting in an array of sparkles as it also transformed the diamonds to float above the crowd, not at all dangerous.

"Togekiss! Finish it up with Extreme Speed into Aerial Ace, and then Hyper Beam!" It grunted and flew up in the air before steeply diving down with speed, and then disappearing.

"Huh? Where did Togekiss go?" Marian asked.

"Now! Hyper Beam!"

Suddenly, a ray of light appeared, filling the stadium with the Hyper Beam. "Quick, Mismagius! Psychic!"

Suddenly, the light was outlined in blue, Mismagius using Psychic to shape the Hyper Beam into Pokémon, people, and finally a rose blowing in the wind. It then released the Hyper Beam, spreading it out to sparkle all over the stadium, just as practised.

Paige's Pokémon were rewarded with a tremendous applause from the audience as they silently landed on the ground in the centre of the stage with a bow.

"Now, let's see what our judges thought of that extremely well done performance." Marian said.

Mr. Contesta was the first to talk, "a very creative and thrilling performance. Focused on many moves, and showed just how adorable and swift her Pokémon are through an unusual match as well."

Mr. Sukizo waited patiently for his turn to speak, but only said two words, "truly remarkable!"

Nurse Joy smiled with enthusiasm, "Paige showed the true potential of Togekiss and Mismagius, and without a doubt they are very well trained Pokémon. It must have taken many hours of vigorous training to perfect these moves. A presentation I will not forget lightly."

"You heard the judges! Give a round of applause for Paige and her Pokémon!" Marian said as Paige and Togekiss exited the stage, "Now, please welcome…."

Backstage, the next competitor went up. Paige hugged Togekissand Mismagius both, "you're both amazing! Great work," she said, returning them to their pokéball.

"Wow, what a great performance!" A girl said next to her, "and you look amazing!"

"Umm, thank you. We worked really hard on it," she replied, "but really, it's the Pokémon who are the performers, I just did the training!"

The girl's navy hair and pink dress bounced, "No way! It's true that the Pokémon are the stars, but the trainer had a part in it as well!"

"I agree," She said, "my name is Paige."

"I'm Dawn," she said, shaking her hand. "Is this contest for your fifth ribbon?"

Paige nodded, "I'm a bit nervous, actually. I would rather be doing a single Pokémon contest, but then again—I need this ribbon. What about you?"

"It's the same for me; maybe we will be in the finals together!"

"Well obviously that won't happen—because I will win!" A girl said, interrupting what Paige was about to say. "With my Pokémon, we are undefeatable!"

"Ursula, don't talk yet! 'Cause we haven't even gone through the preliminaries!" Dawn said. Ursula was wearing a black dress, with her hair in pigtails.

"Hey, May, you were great!" A boy said to a girl as they walked in.

"Thanks, Ash, but I'm just worried that with such tough competition, I won't make it to the second round!" May said sheepishly.

"What are you talking about? Of course you will, and Dawn too!" Ash said.

"Humph, as if!" Ursula said, going off to brag to another competitor.

"You all know I'll win!" A girl shouted in the room. Her name was Jesselina, and to Paige's knowledge, she had three ribbons so far.

"Hey Ash, Brock, and May—I want you to meet Paige. She just performed with her Togekiss and Mismagius!" Dawn said, calling them over.

Paige waved, "are you all in the contest as well?"

"No, it's just May and Dawn, we're just here to support them!" Ash said.

Brock rushed over and took her hands into his, "although supporting you wouldn't hurt either, in fact you will win for sure! Win the contest, and my heart—" Suddenly, a Croagunk appeared behind him and used Poison Jab, knocking him to the floor.

_What just happened?_ I wondered.

"Sorry about that," May said, "he does that a lot."

"Did you two already perform?" Paige asked as they nodded, "Oh, well sorry I missed it. I was, err, running a bit late to get here."

"That's okay; you'll just have to watch us in the second round!"

"Such tough competition…" She murmured to them, "there is Dawn, May, Ursula, Jesselina, and Harley. I'm just glad that Drew guy didn't enter!"

May froze, "w-what? Harley? Drew? They're in Sinnoh?"

"You know them? Well, they're here."

"I guess it would make sense for them to come to Sinnoh, ever since the Johto Grand Festival finished…" May said.

"No need to worry, May!" Dawn said.

They sat down and waited for the preliminary rounds to finish. Harley was the last coordinator to perform in the appeal round. Marian announced that the eight competitors who made it to the second round would be appearing on the screen. Their pictures popped up one by one, with Paige coming in second, May in fourth, Jesselina in fifth, Ursula in sixth, Harley coming in seventh, and Dawn in eighth.

Everyone blew a sigh of relief as their pictures showed—everyone had made it in. Now it was up to the battling. _Six rivals, all at the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest. That means, only four will make it to the semi-finals, and two to the finals…and then the winner! What if that's not me? _Paige thought, nervousness creeping into her.

"There you have it! Our top eight coordinators who will proceed to the second round!" Marian said in a loud voice, "and now, the computer will randomly match up these fierce competitors and see who will be battling one another!"

Backstage, the computer screen flashed and a blue screen appeared. Slowly, cards started being flipped over with a coordinator's picture on it, and a table like a tournament. Paige was matched up with a complete stranger, who she defeated not with ease, but strategy for contests.

The two Pokémon she had chosen were Rapidash and Luxray, she used both Luxray and Rapidash's speed to dodge attacks, and then attack at the best time with many combinations. She also had Luxray's sight to her advantage, as her opponent had used 'Dig' countless times.

Her next battle, unfortunately, was with Dawn, but she fought harder. Rapidash had pinpointed Mamoswine as Luxray had done so with Cyndaquil. Mamoswine and Cyndaquil made up for each other with their speed and power joined as one. However, Dawn's one flaw was concentrating too much on what the crowd was doing. Applause distracted her with the noise.

In the end, Harley and Ursula hadn't made it to the semi finals, only May, Jesselina, Dawn, and Paige. May had defeated Jesselina through her lack of concentration.

"Our final match is about to begin between May, and Paige. Whoever wins this match will receive the Daybreak Town ribbon. You will have five minutes to attempt to lower your opponent's points, or knock them out. Begin!"

"Blaziken, Glaceon, take the stage!" May cried, throwing two pokéballs into the air.

"Rapidash, Luxray, let's win this!" Paige cried, releasing her Pokémon.

"Blaziken, Firespin on Rapidash! Glaceon, Ice Shard on Luxray!" May said.

"Stand your ground, Rapidash. As for you, Luxray, counter Glaceon with Wild Charge into Thunder Fang!" she commanded as May's Pokémon charged, Blaziken sent a fast and powerful Fire Spin at Rapidash—which only made it better for Paige. As told, it stood its ground, not receiving damage, but gaining power.

"Folks! You just witnessed one of Rapidash's many abilities: Flash Fire!"

Meanwhile, Glaceon had sent an Ice Shard straight at Luxray, who had dodged it, its body glowing with electricity as it slammed its body at Glaceon, before biting down hard with a Thunderfang. May lost a quarter of her points.

May only smiled though, "nice job, Paige, but let's see if you can keep up with this! Blaziken, Sky Upper Cut into Flare Blitz at Rapidash! Glaceon go closely behind him, and then use Quick Attack on Rapidash."

"Rapidash, use Agility into Flame Wheel and Fire Spin at Blaziken, and keep going to hit Glaceon!" Paige said, "and Luxray, as soon as Rapidash hits Glaceon, use Discharge!"

Rapidash moved swiftly throughout the field, and then used Flame Wheel and Fire Spin, creating a moving ball of fire that shot out more, hitting anything in its path within a one hundred meter radius. It used the speed from the Agility, hitting Blaziken squarely. But Rapidash couldn't dodge after that, because Blaziken had still hurt it even through all her fire-type defences.

Glaceon dived for Rapidash with its Quick Attack, but Luxray was there in an instant, using Discharge. Yet still, Glaceon rammed into Luxray, as if for payback, and they both got damaged. The score was neck-in-neck with only a minute left.

"We aren't over yet!" May cried, "Glaceon, spin while using Icy Wind! Blaziken, go size by side with Glaceon and do Overheat! Go for Luxray! Max power!"

"Two can play at that game! Luxray, dodge into the air. You too Rapidash!" Paige's Pokémon sprang up in the air, but their opponents were still coming after them, "Rapidash, use the speed from diving and use Overheat while spinning and doing Flare Blitz! Luxray, use the speed as well and use Thunder with Thunder Fang! To the max!"

"And there they go! All four Pokémon heading for a collision of Fire, Ice, and Electricity, who has the stamina to win? We are about to see a very big blow out!"

There was a big explosion as the Pokémon collided, and the time ran out. All that was left was the smoke, clearing to decide the winner.

Paige heard Marian's voice before the smoke cleared. "And the winner is Paige with her Rapidash and Luxray!"

It took her a moment to process what was going on in her brain as she saw the inches that separated May and Paiges points, and the knocked out Blaziken and Glaceon on the field. Then, she ran to her own tired Pokémon, and hugged them with all her might. They were going to the Grand Festival!

They shook her off in protest, and she apologized. "Sorry! You both must be tired; can you wait until we receive our ribbon?" she laughed, "You were both phenomenal!"

Rapidash and Luxray nodded as May came over, two pokéballs in her hand.

She shook Paige's hand with a smile, "Nice job, that was a great battle!" she said happily. "I'm glad there are more contests to come!"

"Paige," Mr. Contesta said, "I'd like to present you this Daybreak Town ribbon, which anyone could see that you deserve it here today."

She accepted the purple ribbon, "Truth be told, I had no part in this. I just trained them, but they performed. It is them who are the true stars."

"Well said," Nurse Joy remarked as Paige and all four of her Pokémon bowed once more before she returned them to their pokéballs.

People started to file out of the stadium quickly, Paige following out of the back stage; a smile on her face. She looked outside and saw the dimming sky; she wouldn't be able to travel tonight, not with Rapidash hurt. She changed from her dress and threw on a pair of ripped jeans, sneakers, a light blue t-shirt and covered it with a burgundy jacket that she didn't zip up.

She walked from the Contest Hall to the Pokémon Centre, where she was greeted by Nurse Joy, "Hi, Paige. Do you need me to take a look at your Pokémon?"  
>She nodded producing all her pokéballs from a belt that carried them. "I just want them to recover and get a check up before we travel again tomorrow," she said. "I was also wondering if I could get a room to stay at tonight."<p>

"Of course," Nurse Joy replied, taking the pokéballs. She then reached her hand into a drawer and pulled out a key with a number on it. "That is your room key; it has the room number on it as well."

"Thank you," she said, taking the room key. She quietly went to her room, which contained two bunk beds, a desk, and a window. However Paige would be the only one sleeping in this room tonight.

…**.**

A yawn escaped Paige's lips as her eyes flickered, saw the light, and ducked to the dark protection of her comforters. She reached an arm out and searched the desk blindly looking for her pokétch. The sound of something crashing to the floor rang in her ears, and she was forced to open her eyes; squinting.

A groan escaped her lips as she saw what fell on the floor. Her bag. She rummaged through her bag and was thankful for the tightly sealed ramequins that contained all her survival necessities that allowed them not to spill.

She swiftly made her bed, and then brushed her teeth. She combed over her jagged side bangs once before holding her hair in place with her left hand as she got a hair tie, securing her hair in a pony-tail that ended at the middle of her spine.

She then changed into a fresh pair of clothing which consisted of jeans that were tucked into black boots with a dark purple tank and black cardigan. Then she fastened a black belt around her hip, under her sweater and looked for her pokéballs to fill in the tiny slots for it, but realized that they were with Nurse Joy.

Paige balanced on one foot and put on one leather travelling boot, and quickly rose. She had forgotten that she could just use the bed to sit on while putting on her boots! Relieved that no one was around to witness her feeble mind, she tucked on the other boot and placed her belongings into her bag, and swung it over her shoulder.

After she had eaten the breakfast that Chansey was serving to all the trainers who had spent the night at the Pokémon Centre, she walked over to Nurse Joy's desk, where she was waiting. "Paige," Nurse Joy said cheerfully, holding out a tray with her pokéballs on it. "It brings me great pleasure to say that all your Pokémon are well and fully recovered."

Paige took each pokéball and slipped it into an empty slot in her belt, "Thank you, Nurse Joy."

"Will you be heading for your hometown to train for the Grand Festival?" Nurse Joy asked.

Paige shook her head, "actually I am heading for Sunyshore City in hopes of earning my eighth badge so I can enter the Sinnoh League."

"The Sinnoh League? Does that mean you enter in contests and also compete in battles?"

She nodded, "So far I have been through the Indigo, Johto, Hoenn, and Kanto regions and have made it to both the Leagues and Grand Festivals, but sadly no win yet."

"Well, I'm sure you will do great in Sinnoh," Nurse Joy smiled.

Paige thanked Nurse Joy once more before turning around and walking out of the Pokémon Centre. She reached into her bag and pulled out her Guide Book, looking in the direction she had to go to in order to safely get to Sunyshore City. Satisfied, she put it away and released Rapidash from its pokéball.

"You feeling better, Rapidash?" She asked it. It gave a pleased neigh which made her smile, "enough to travel?" Once more it gave the same noise and Paige chuckled, "good, then let's go!" She hopped onto its back.

"So you compete in both contests and battles, huh?" A voice said from behind her.

Rapidash turned around with her. Behind them was Drew, from yesterday, "so you heard," Paige said. Where had he been? "That's me!"

"You can't decide?" He asked.

"Of course I can!" She said to his surprise, "but who says you can't do both?"

"Some people bear grudges towards those who do both," he stated.

"And…?" she asked, waiting for more depth. "You aren't one of those people, are you?"

"What people decide to compete in isn't my problem," Drew said, flicking his hair.

"Why—" Paige didn't finish her sentence though, as she saw Harley approaching, fast. "Umm, I have to go!" she said to Drew. Rapidash, who understood her need to hurry, dashed off at full speed in just ten steps into the direction of Sunyshore City.

"Paige, dear, wait!" Harley called, starting after her.

"See you at the Grand Festival!" She said.

…

A/N: I hope you liked that chapter! The next one will hopefully come soon, but tell me what you think so far and how I can improve! Constructive criticism only

…

**Disclaimer:**This is a Pokemon fanfiction. None of the characters, games, shows, manga, anime, or movies is owned by me unless otherwise stated. Credit goes to the original owner.

© Ashley Jane Li, 2011. All rights reserved.


	2. Cheering Up the Shining, Shocking Star

**Chapter Two: Cheering Up the Shining, Shocking Star.**

Rapidash was the fastest Pokémon alive; naturally, they would arrive at Sunyshore City in two days. It would have been one as well, if it had not been for Paige's need for breaks. As soon as Paige got to the city, she dropped her Pokémon off at the Pokémon Centre with Nurse Joy, and started to explore. She wanted to be ready before her battle; it was her last after all.

The temperature in Sunyshore City was hot, a lot hotter than most of the cities. She had to change into jean shorts, a black camisole and a white cardigan on one of her breaks, and she had a feeling that she would be staying with this outfit. Her blonde hair left down, running until her ribs but she had put a small braid in it, and a crescent moon necklace hung around her neck.

"Excuse me," Paige said, tapping a woman on the shoulder. "Do you know what battle the gym here gives?"

"What battle?" The woman snorted, "Recently, our gym leader has been giving free badges!"

Paige was appalled and hoped that the woman was tired in this sun. She asked around again and got a more specific answer. Apparently it was a three-on-three battle, yet recently the gym leader had been giving out free badges. She wanted to see what kind of gym leader he was, and practically marched inside the gym.

Nobody was inside the big gym, but once she got to the fighting space, she found a boy. He had blonde hair with side burns, a blue overcoat that had yellow dots on his arms, a black shirt underneath, jeans, and grey shoes. He was handsome, but looked bored and lazy. He was almost half-asleep; unaware that Paige had even entered the room.

"Are you the Sunnyshore City Gym Leader?" She asked, purple eyes gleaming. His head lifted up, checking her appearance.

"Yes. Do you want a badge?" He produced one from his pocket and held it out for her to take, the Beacon Badge.

Paige didn't take it. "Of course I want a badge, namely this one, why else would I be here?" She said, "But really, there is no point in receiving one if I don't earn it."

He paid no attention to her comment. She continued, "Why do you look so bored?"

"There are no challengers good enough. None that give me an exciting battle." He said.

"What's your name?"

"Volkner."

Paige smiled, "well, Volkner, I'm Paige, and I challenge you to a gym battle!"

"No need, just take the badge."

"There is every need!" Paige said, "Even if you are bored, it is a gym leader's responsibility to take every challenge that comes, because it isn't about whether someone is strong enough, it is about the fun of a battle. Pokémon battles are _fun_; don't you remember how fun it was when you first battled some one?"

Before he had time to respond, she continued still, "it's a little disgraceful, Volkner. You give out free badges, and you're really lazy. You have full potential for a lot of fun battles! Please battle me!"

"Cry me a river." He snapped. "You're not strong enough, I can tell by just looking at you. I'm the strongest gym leader of the eight in the Sinnoh Region, just because you defeat everyone else doesn't mean you will defeat me."

"Want to bet?" Paige grinned. She was being cocky, yeah, but she would do anything to battle him. Spotting a remote, she picked it up and clicked the power button. She had been hoping that the remote was for the TV just to their left, but she was, of course, wrong.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake as the battlefield around them changed to an earthy surrounding. "Ooh," she said, as if the remote was a diamond. The battlefield changed from water, to ground, and then back to regular.

"Don't play with that!" Volkner said, finally getting up.

"Why do you have all these battlefields?"

"Training."

"Wow, this is a lot better than what I get for training." Paige remarked, and then muttered, "Gym leaders."

Suddenly, she clicked a button and the TV turned on, "Oh! I got it!" She exclaimed, turning to the contest channel.

"What are you doing? I don't want to watch contests!"

"You think I'm not strong enough? Watch that." Paige ordered, putting the remote behind her back. Volkner reluctantly watched the battle from the Daybreak contest, Paige against May.

After watching the video, she turned the TV off. "So, will you battle me?"

He bit his lip, "If you give me the remote back."

"Deal." She gave the remote back to him. Paige almost asked him when they should have their battle, but looking at him, he seemed rather bipolar about his decisions; she didn't want him to change his mind tomorrow.

"My Pokémon are at the Pokémon Centre for a quick rest, can I get them and we can have our battle now?"

"Make it quick."

"Roger that." She said, sprinting out of the gym. She raced across the city, heart-pounding for the Pokémon Centre.

"Nurse Joy!" She cried as she entered the centre, "I finally got Volkner to battle me! I don't want to wait another day if he changes his mind." She took a breath, panting. "Are my Pokémon ready?"

She took a tray of five poke balls from a room, "Yes. They are right here. As Paige took the poke balls, each shrunk in her hand and fit in the belt she had for them. "Good luck." Nurse Joy said with a smile.

"Thanks!" Paige quipped, sprinting once again. _Smack! _She shut her eyes as her butt hit the ground. She helped herself up, but the person she knocked into didn't fall. _What is with me this week? _Paige thought. Looking up at who she knocked into, it was, surprisingly, Drew.

She was almost going to start talking when she remembered about her match. "Drew? Talk to me later, I have to get somewhere!" She said, running past him.

He looked confused, "Paige?"

"Ask Nurse Joy!" She said, running off to the gym.

When she entered, sweat beading her forehead, out of breath, she finally sat down. "Took you long enough," Volkner remarked.

Paige glared at him, but went to stand near the challenger's side of the field. The referee made introductions before stating the rules.

"The rules are simple," The referee stated, "This is a three-on-three battle, and only the challenger is able to switch out their Pokémon. Begin!"

"Go, Luxray!" Volkner said, releasing a Luxray from its poke ball. _Luxray, huh? _Paige thought. Since she had a Luxray, she would know its moves, but what was worse was that she didn't have any ground –types to give her any sort of advantage.

"Meganium, come on out!" Paige threw the poke ball in the air and released her Pokémon just as someone entered the gym. She turned to find Drew, making his way to the bleachers. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Checking out the competition." He replied flatly, taking a seat.

She gritted her teeth, not pleasant with the fact that he would have an advantage with her the next time they fought. She ignored him however, as Volkner made his attack.

"Luxray, use Double Team!" Volkner said. Luxray made doubles of itself around Meganium. "Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge it!" Paige cried. Meganium dodged it just in time. She smiled; the good thing about being both a coordinator and a gym battler was that she could use her creative ideas during battles, and her fierce side during contests. "Vine Whip, but through the ground!" it was a confusing command, but Meganium knew what Paige meant as it extracted several vines from its body and weaved them through the ground, created a net-like vine through the whole battle field.

"Iron tail!" Volkner shouted. Luxray attempted to move, but the net was too tight and made it trip over the vines.

"Quickly now, Hyper Beam, you know where to aim!" Quickly, Meganium aimed a Hyper Beam at the whole battlefield, but mainly at Luxray. It barely got it, but they did what they wanted to do. As the Hyper Beam had also hit the vines, now the vines were glowing with the power from the Hyper Beam, and radiated with the combined power.

"Use Thunder Shock!"

"Petal Dance!" Paige said. Petals surrounded Luxray in a whirlwind of petals, cancelling the attack. "Now!" Meganium, suddenly appearing on top of the whirlwind, slapped the vines down and hit Luxray with the petals, vines, and Hyper Beam. "This is what we like to call Unison Raid."

"Luxray is unable to battle, Meganium wins." The referee called as Volkner returned it to its poke ball, murmuring his thanks to it.

"Good job, Paige. I never knew you had it in you," he remarked, "but you won't get us this time! Electrivire, let's go!"

Electrivire appeared from the thrown poke ball, strong and ready to hit something. Meganium looked tired, but Paige wanted it to stay in for a special move, so she kept her in. "Meganium, use Rest!" Meganium closed its eyes and began to rest, recovering power.

"Fire Punch!" Volkner said. Meganium paid no attention to the punches coming its way, even though they were fire, and kept resting. "Keep using Fire Punch!"

"Dodge!" Meganium was finished with its Rest and quickly dodged the attack. "Vine Whip!" Its vines spread around the Electrivire's body, squeezing it tightly.

"Thunder, Electrivire!" Volkner cried. Electrivire used Thunder, and the electric move traveled along the vine, hurting Meganium as well.

"Hang in there, Meganium! Use Poison Powder!" It did so with all its might, fainting in the process. _From one Thunder attack? _Paige thought.

"Meganium is unable to battle, Electrivire wins!" The referee announced.

Paige returned Meganium to its poke ball, "great job. Get some rest." She glanced at her opponent. Meganium had left Electrivire poisoned, but didn't do much damage other than that. "Togekiss! It's your turn!"

"Togekiss? You do realize that Togekiss is a flying-type Pokémon, right? No match for my Electrivire." Valkner said.

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Paige murmured. It was true about the disadvantage, but she had confidence in her Pokémon, and knew that Togekiss would serve a very important purpose for her win.

"Thunderwave!" Valkner said.

"Do the same!" Paige said. They're attacks matched in the middle, "Add an Auras Sphere!" Togekiss charged an Auras Sphere while maintaining the Thunderwave, and send it through the line of electricity, hitting Electrivire.

"Follow up with Double Team!" Paige said.

"Use Thunder to get them all!" Valkner said.

"Extreme Speed into Aerial Ace!" Electrivire was getting tired and hurt from the poison now, but so was Togekiss. It hit Electrivire but Togekiss was quickly hit with a Thunderbolt and an Iron Tail. It stood carefully, swaying on its side. "Auras Sphere! All around!"

Togekiss used its dizziness to spin in a circle while firing constant Auras Spheres, only a few hitting Electrivire, they both fell. "Togekiss and Electrivire are both unable to battle. The victor will be decided within the next round!"

Paige grimaced at her Pokémon's defeat, the stakes were so high. Who would Volkner use next? Who would she use next?

"This is it! My trump card! Come on out, my old friend, Raichu!" He shouted. A Raichu appeared from the poke ball.

She didn't exactly know his battle strategy, nor did she know her own, but if they wanted trump card, then she would play her own as well. "Let's win this—Rapidash!" It appeared on the battlefield, ready to attack.

"You know what do to!" Paige cried. Volkner sent his Raichu to do many attacks, and it seemed like most of them hit, until the dust cleared. Rapidash was too fast, and kept dodging all the attacks it made. _Tire it out_, she thought.

This happened for many more minutes until Volkner got her plan. "Raichu, try to really hit Rapidash with Volt Tackle!"

"Agility into Fire Spin and Flame Wheel!" Paige yelled. There was no way she was going to let Raichu paralyze Rapidash. As soon as Raichu hit Rapidash, it fell to the ground, hurt by the flames, but also did damage to the fire-horse Pokémon. Rapidash kept going with the Fire Spin and Flame Wheel, as it let fire come all the way around it, and hit Raichu.

"Iron Tail!" Volkner said, this hit Rapidash and it hit the ground with a deafening noise. "Here's our chance, Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge it!"

"Thunder! Now Volt Tackle."

"Damn," Paige muttered. Rapidash was paralyzed. "Rapidash, I know you can do this! Come on!" Rapidash kept constantly getting hit with attacks from Raichu, unable to dodge or fight back. It was the worst experience for Paige, seeing her Pokémon like that—defenceless.

"I know you can do this, Rapidash!" She kept throwing encouraging words at it, but nothing did it. They had no meaning, until her head dropped. "We've come this far, Rapidash. We even made Volkner fight us instead of getting the free badge. I've had you since I was a kid—and you've endured enough!"

"Last attack, Raichu! Thunder, to the max!"

Paige closed her eyes, but there was no strangled cry. Rapidash had moved. A light was charging above its horn. At first everyone was confused, until Paige saw what it was. "Alright! Charge it up, and then create a Unison Raid of your own!" She said, "Go! Overheat, and Solar Beam!"

Volkner's eyes widened, "Impossible."

Rapidash formed Overheat and blasted through its mouth as it released Solar Beam from its horn, and the two attacks formed together, spiralling across one another, hitting Raichu.

"Raichu is unable to battle, Rapidash wins! The victor is Paige from Azalea Town!" The referee called.

"Congratulations, Paige." Volkner said as they met in the middle of the battlefield, "You have truly earned this Beacon Badge."

"Thanks! That was a fun battle; you're not going to give away free badges anymore, right?" Paige said.

He nodded, "Come visit Sunyshore soon! I'll be watching the Sinnoh League!"

Drew exited the gym with me. "Congrats." He said.

"Thanks, are you going to your home to train for the Grand Festival?"

"Yeah, to LaRousse, what about you? Going back to Azalea?"

Paige smiled, "LaRousse, eh? I used to live there. But no, I'm going to Celestic Town."

"Why there?"

"My sister and I move around a lot—it's mostly just her, but she says we are staying in Celestic Town for good now." She said, "But I was originally from Azalea, then we moved to LaRousse, then to Veridian, and now it's Celestic."

"Why do you guys move around a lot?"

"Our parents passed when we were younger, so she's in charge of me, but we are both on a journey. She wanted to move to different places to learn different experiences, but then she realized that we don't need to move every time to do that. So now we're stuck in Celestic. I'm not complaining though, it's a good town, you should visit some time." Paige said, "My sister won't be home though."

"What does your sister do?"

"She battles. The whole 'Champion' stuff always keeps her busy and away from home," Paige murmured. "But anyway, thanks for watching the battle."

A thought popped into her head, "How many Pokémon do you need to enter the Grand Festival?"

"Six."

"Damn."

"What?"

"On second thought, I'm going to Chocovine Town." Paige said.

"Why?"

"I need a sixth Pokémon." She said sheepishly.

"You don't have six Pokémon?" He exclaimed, and then smirked, "Amateur."

"What?" Paige asked, "I only have five pokemon on me right _now_. My other ones are with Professor Oak in Kanto."

"So why do you need another one?"

"I don't know...A casual team and a serious team?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I use one for casual fighting and one for serious fights but I love them all!" She fumed, "get it? It's because people like you who want to 'scope out the competition' that I mainly do that so you don't see my real team."

He gave her a disbelieving look, flicking his hair in the process before they split off at the Pokémon centre. "That guy…" Paige muttered, "Well, I hope to see him soon."

She dropped her Pokémon off for recovery in the Pokémon centre, and then rented out a room for the night. Tomorrow she would go to Chocovine to get a sixth Pokémon.

_What Pokémon will I catch? _Paige thought.

…

Copyright © 2012 by Ashley Li. All rights reserved.


	3. A New Pokemon

**Chapter Three: A New Pokémon**

Paige shivered. It was colder in Chocovine Town than in Sunyshore, much colder. It was expected though, since Chocovine was so close to Snowpoint City. Paige shivered again, despite being so close to Rapidash. She put on a black jacket over her cardigan and changed from sandals to boots.

"Are you tired?" Paige asked Rapidash. It shook his head and Paige smiled, "Don't lie." She held its poke ball up let Rapidash rest.

For the rest of the day, Paige walked the streets of Chocovine, asking those around her what kind of water-type Pokémon were there, and what they recommended. Most of them said that there were all types of water-types here, and that they were all powerful, so she went to the sea to check it out herself.

Without any water Pokémon of her own, she had to swim by herself with no guidance, but she saw all types of Pokémon underwater. There was none that completely caught her attention though, all of them looked happy where they were, and she didn't want to take any Pokémon away from their home. Besides, she didn't get a feeling from them like she did with all her other Pokémon.

The way Paige decided to catch Pokémon was different from others. Most people caught Pokémon either because they wanted to, the Pokémon looks powerful, they are rare, or because it looks pretty. She didn't dub Pokémon like that, no; she only caught them if she got a feeling off them. Like when she caught Luxray, who was a Shinx, she had an inner voice telling her to capture it. It was like she could see an aura around it, and it was the same with the other four Pokémon she had. She didn't understand why, but it just happened, and she always trusted this instinct.

Paige started walking along the beach, closing her eyes, searching for the inner voice in her head, but got none. _What do I do? _Paige thought, _The Sinnoh League is before the Grand Festival, and you need six Pokémon for that too. I only have two months to train my Pokémon, and I don't even have a full team! I could go around the cities, searching for the feeling but…that would waste time!_

Her high hopes had lowered, and she returned to the Pokémon centre, giving her five poke balls to Nurse Joy to let them rest while she rented out her room. She tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible, she couldn't stop thinking about how much she needed a Pokémon.

Finally, Paige, with a determined look on her face, slipped into her jean shorts, black camisole, and cardigan again from her pyjamas and ran outside for the fresh air, despite how cold it was. She hadn't tied her hair up and had forgotten her Pokémon.

She sat down by the sea and listened quietly, not even looking for a Pokémon anymore, just enjoying the sea and the moon. Her crescent moon necklace gleamed in the moon light and she tightly grasped it in her hand.

The silence was ruined by a high-pitched cry. Paige's eyes snapped open as she turned her head, looking for the source. It seemed to be coming from her right. She got up and followed the noise. As she rounded the corner of the beach, she saw what looked like five blue blobs. Squinting, she realized that they were Phione!

She watched silently as one performed Hyper Beam and what looked like Giga Impact. _What the hell? Only Manaphy is supposed to know how to use those moves. Never a Phione. _She thought, watching closely. The other four Phione started hitting the one. _Are they—are they making fun of it? Because it's different?_ She watched closely again, _No; they're making fun of it because it wants to participate in battles._

Paige gasped. A purple aura surrounded the Phione. She rubbed her eyes, but it still remained. A feeling crept into her consciousness and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. _I need to catch this Phione? _She thought. It was impossible. Phione were sea guardians, not meant to be captured. But….it didn't look very happy where it was now.

Suddenly the Phione started throwing rocks at the one. Paige reached for a poke ball to release in order to stop them, but she found nothing. She forgot her Pokémon at the Pokémon centre! All she had were empty poke balls. The Phione that was getting attacked fell to the ground in the shallow part of the beach. The rocks got bigger.

She bit her lip in frustration, "Stop it!" Paige yelled, throwing herself in front of the Phione getting attacked. They looked at her in shock but also with a look of foreignness. "You are making fun of it because it wants to battle, right? Because it can use moves you can't?"

"I think it's amazing that it can use Hyper Beam and Giga Impact, I think it's great that it wants to battle! Why are you throwing rocks at your friend?" Paige said, "Can't you see that it isn't fighting back because it doesn't want to hurt you?"

They didn't show any recognition to what she was saying, but she knew they understood. All they did was leave, unwilling to do anything else. She wanted them to apologize to it, but their absence was better than having them here, throwing rocks. "Are you okay?" She asked the Phione remaining.

The Phione shook its head, looking almost mad at Paige. Its face was fierce and protective as it left. "Wait!" She called. _Why did it look so mad at me? Because I interfered?_ She thought, _oh well, I won't give up. _

XXXX

For the rest of the week, Paige stayed close to the place she saw the Phione and saw them there every night. It was the same thing that happened the first night, and Paige learned just to watch them, and to let them know she was watching. She talked to the Phione she needed to capture often, but it always ended up getting mad at her in the end, like she was disrespecting it or something.

One day she was watching the Phione play and sighed to herself. "Will I win this year? Probably not. Someone great will probably show up, they always do." She closed her eyes, "but then again, I guess that means I learn from them, right?" Paige had already entered seven Grand Festivals and seven Pokémon Leagues, each year she lost, always in the top ten or five. She trained and trained, but never won.

Paige grimaced and sat up abruptly, "Alright!" She shouted to herself, "I'm going to win either the Grand Festival or the Pokémon League this year! Then I can go against the Elite Four and Onee-chan!"

"I beat the Orange League, the Battle-freaking-Frontier, I have all the badges from all the regions, I've seen a dozen legendries, and my sister is the freaking Sinnoh Champion!" She screamed to the sky, panting afterward. Paige blew out a long breath, "I can win."

Soon she was lost in her own thoughts again; _I guess that means I should use my serious team then, all the way through both competitions. Or perhaps my serious team in the Pokémon League and casual in the Grand Festival, so that they all can participate?_ She nodded her head, agreeing with the latter.

Something made a noise beside her and she realized that the Phione was there. "What?" Paige asked. It hung onto her arm and motioned to her mouth. "What?" It did the Hyper Beam again and motioned to her mouth. "You want to battle?" It nodded its head. "Wow, I've been telling you all along that we could be training for the Pokémon League or the Grand Festival." She said irritably.

It crossed its arm. "Yeah, you weren't listening," Paige mocked. "Oh well, welcome to my team, Phione." She took out an empty poke ball and let it inside, capturing it with a sigh, "All this time—such a big misunderstanding! Why were you even mad at me in the first place?" Paige asked the Phione, letting it out.

It made a grumpy noise again, "Oh, so you can take care of yourself?" Paige asked, "I'll keep that in mind." She returned it to its poke ball and went back to the Pokémon centre, confused on whether to be happy or annoyed.

Paige ended up laughing for no reason as she checked herself and her Pokémon out of the Pokémon centre. "It's time to train."

…

Copyright © 2012 by Ashley Li. All rights reserved.


	4. Bets

**Chapter Four: Bets**

"Drew, tell me you're not stalking me." Paige said, staring at him. They were in Celestic Town, in the centre where the small shrine was. She had just arrived in Celestic, and wasn't exactly thrilled to see him—why was it that he was always where she was?

"Ouch, that hurts," Drew said in mock-hurt. "But don't flatter yourself. Celestic Town is famous for its shrine and ruins; I wanted to see it for myself."

"And you couldn't wait another time?"

"Did you get your Pokémon?" He asked, changing the subject. Great.

Paige nodded. A silence passed through them, and she knew what he wanted. "No way. I'm not showing it to you."

"Why not?"

"How about this, I'll show it to you if we train together." Paige said. There wasn't really a point, especially since she would be using her casual team in the Grand Festival, and he had already seen her fight with the team she had. It would be pointless to hide it, but she wanted to see his Pokémon as well.

"Fine." He didn't seem to consider it either, "You shouldn't be so conscious about who sees your Pokémon."

She ignored the last part of his sentence and grinned, "Let's start now. I'll meet you in the forests near Celestic Town, they're good for training." Paige ran off to her house, went inside and dropped her bag off. Her house was small, and just to the right of the Elder's house.

**A/N: Let's just pretend that the Elder isn't Cynthia's or her grandma. XD**

As promised, he was in the forests, his Pokémon already out. Roserade, Masquerain, Flygon, Absol, Butterfree, and Leafeon. Most of his Pokémon were grass or bug types, other than Absol.

Paige let her own Pokémon out: Rapidash, Mismagius, Togekiss, Meganium, Luxray, and Phione. They stared at Drew's team, expecting them to battle them, until she said, "These are the guys we're training with."

Drew nodded, "how about this. Half of all the Pokémon jump from rock to rock on that lake over there, and the other half run back and forth in that clearing. Paige and I will take individual Pokémon to work on their skills and rotate. Absol, I'll work with you for the first shift."

"Phione, let's work on your attacks!" Paige said.

The Pokémon went to their places and started working, Drew and Paige getting their own places to train. For now, Paige and Phione were by the water away from the Pokémon that were going rock to rock.

"Okay, Phione. Let's see the attacks you can use first." Paige said.

It nodded and went to work showing her what attacks it knew. In the end, it knew Bubble Beam, Whirl Pool, Water Pulse, Aqua Ring, Dive, Giga Impact, Hyper Beam, Ice Beam, Hidden Power, Protect, Waterfall, Rest, and Surf. "How about we work on your Giga Impact, Hyper Beam, and Whirl Pool?"

It nodded. At first they worked on Whirl Pool, trying to see if they could freeze it, but the bubble beam with it, and even create two whirl pools at once. They got everything except the last. As for the Giga Impact, it used a lot of Phione's power, so their solution was that as soon as Giga Impact was done, Phione would use Whirl Pool and then use Rest inside it when it got really tired.

Phione's Hyper Beam was good; however its aim was off. They placed hoops in the water for places where the beam should go, but it was always an inch away. "Drew!" Paige called, "Let's switch Pokémon for a few minutes."

He looked confused, but switched anyway. When they met in the middle, he said "Absol is working on Razor Wind."

"Work on Phione's accuracy with its Hyper Beam, if you get that done, try getting it to make two big Whirl Pools at the same time." She said.

When she got to Absol, it showed her it's Razor Wind, which she found just fine, but if she knew Drew, he probably thought it wasn't powerful enough or accurate or something. Paige told it to charge more power in its head first, and then make a Razor Wind for a more powerful one and a quick whip for a quick one. Its accuracy was fine; there was only one possibility that could be wrong.

"When you train with Drew, trust him." Paige said firmly, "If he wants you to hit him, hit him when your best shot. If he gets hurt, it means you have a powerful attack. And dedicate. Even if it isn't a real battle, you still have to go full-out with your best effort."

It nodded and they switched again, meeting at the middle before going back to each other's Pokémon. "Your accuracy problem is fixed. All Phione needed to do was open its mouth a bit bigger and tilt its head to the right. As for the Whirl Pool, I got one big one and a tiny one to show up. Work on it."

"Thanks. I didn't see much wrong with Absol's Razor Wind, but I told it a few things. Let me know if you see a difference."

Paige saw that Drew was right, Phione's problem was fixed. "Okay, Phione, let's switch. Go where the rocks are a get your speed up. I want you to be lightning fast when you face your opponents."

It went off and Paige called Mismagius over. Previously they had learned Will-o-Wisps and Energy Ball, and had finished off most of the move, but what Paige wanted to work on was teaching it Attract. "We are always stuck dead when a Dark Pokémon comes out, and you can't learn any fighting or steel attacks so Attract is our best shot. That and the Giga Impact we have, but Attract is better."

They spent that time seeing TMs about Attract and trying to use it on other Pokémon. It had more of a fail rate than a success rate, but they would work on it again sometime. "I want to work on your Aerial Ace." Paige said. "If a Grass Pokémon comes to us we always have will-o-wisps, but I think it would be better to have two things." Last time they had visited a course specializing in Aerial Ace and had gotten better at it, but it still needed work.

They set a bar hanging off a tree branch, and Mismagius would try to go lower and lower each time until finally it reached the lowest it could go. It still needed speed though; it was too used to hovering in the air. "Work on your speed on the grass with the other Pokémon." Paige instructed.

Paige worked with each one of her Pokémon; Rapidash with its Solar Beam, Meganium with its Light Screen, and shaping its Petal Dance into dancing people, Togekiss with its attacks and tiring the opponent out, and Luxray with the power of its electricity.

By the end of the day, they were all tired, but improved. It had been a fun day as well, being able to spend time with the Pokémon outside. Drew sighed as they're Pokémon ate their food on the grass. "It's too late to start travelling; I'll just stay at the Pokémon centre and travel to LaRousse for more training."

"Don't stay at the Pokémon centre, why don't you stay at my house?" Paige suggested, "no one will care, there is a guest room, and my food beats the Pokémon centres." _No offence, Nurse Joy, _she thought. But it was true, the Celestic Town Pokémon Centre was famous for how well this particular Nurse Joy treated Pokémon, but the food said otherwise.

"You sure?"

She nodded, "You don't have to, but like I said, no one will care if you stay at my house for a night."

They walked back to her house and walked in, "It's nothing special, but its home for now." Paige said, "Guest room is upstairs, first door on the left. You good with having ramen?"

He nodded and went upstairs, probably to put his bag in the room. When he came down, she had already started the noodles. Paige added seasoning, seafood, an egg, and a few vegetables. She loved the smell of ramen, and when she was done, she couldn't wait to eat.

They ate quickly and washed their dishes even faster. There was silence in the house as they watched TV. People saying they saw Lugia, people saying they saw a red Gyarados—most of the sightings were probably a lie, but you never know.

The phone rang, and she jumped up to get it. They didn't have caller ID, but the only person who ever called was her sister. "Hello?"

"Paige?" A feminine voice asked.

"You should know my voice by now." Paige said, "Why are you calling?"

"I'm coming back next week." Her sister informed her.

"Great, you're going to help me train, right?" She asked.

Cynthia laughed, "of course."

"How was your battle with Flint?"

"You didn't watch it?"

"I did!" She said, "But I just want to know how you think he is."

"He's definitely good, but he leaves gaps."

Paige went to go sit on the couch again, "Oh, hey, since you called, is it alright if a friend stays for the night? It was too late for him to travel again, and we had an empty guest room…anyway, he'll be gone by the morning."

"Him?"

"Yes. Him."

"Is there anything going on with _him_?" Cynthia asked.

"Not really, just a cocky guy who flicks his hair a lot," Paige said, grinning at Drew.

"Well, don't get too comfortable."

She laughed in response to what her sister was saying, "Definitely not. Anyway, come quickly! I caught a new Pokémon that I want you to meet."

"Is it for your 'casual' team or your 'serious' team?" Her sister asked. Cynthia had never got the fact of why she had such teams.

"It helps, okay? Keep my friends organized? Let people know when I really want to beat them up? Oh well, I can't stop now—it's become a part of my brain." Paige said, "Have a safe trip!"

"Bye."

"See ya."

"Love you too." Paige muttered when Cynthia hung up. It wasn't that they didn't love each other, they loved each other quite a lot, but they just didn't have a habit of saying it over the phone.

"Who was that?" Drew asked.

"You need to ask?"

"Your sister?"

Paige nodded, "she's coming back next week."

"And you're training with her?"

"Yeah, as always."

"Is she good?"

"She's the best." _Literally._

Drew flicked his hair, making her laugh, but he continued anyway. "Why do you need her help?"

"It's better with two heads rather than one, and like I said, she's _the best_." Paige said. "What, you can't train with anyone because you think you're better?"

"Probably. Do you think your sister is better than me?"

It was time to get cocky. No matter who it was, Paige always got defensive around topics such as her sister—and vice versa. "I _know_ she's better than you."

"How much do you want to bet?"

"Ten bucks says she can beat you with only one Pokémon. Six-on-six battle."

"I don't do battles." Drew said matter-of-factly.

"But you can still battle." Paige said, "Will you just battle her?"

"Don't be too cocky." Drew paused, thinking about his options, "Fine _and _I get to stay here until she gets here."

"Deal." They shook on it.

He sneered, "Your money's mine."

"We'll see."

…

**Disclaimer:**This is a Pokemon fanfiction. None of the characters, games, shows, manga, anime, or movies is owned by me unless otherwise stated. Credit goes to the original owner.

© Ashley Jane Li, 2011. All rights reserved.


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